Benedict Cumberbatch To Play Alan Turing?

Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch is reportedly in talks to play the code-breaker Alan Turing.

Deadline reports that Cumberbatch is currently in talks to play the World War Two code-breaker in a new film. The screenplay for The Imitation Game has been written by Graham Moore with Morten Tyldum signed up to direct. The possibility of a film on Alan Turing has been floating around for some time Deadline reports with an earlier attempt, with Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly involved, taking the interest of Warner Brothers.

Alan Turing was a code-breaker at Bletchley Park during World War Two and was instrumental in British/Allied efforts to successful break the German code known as Enigma. Turing was also known for producing what is widely regarded as the first blue print for modern computing.

Turing’s activities during World War Two were not revealed until after his death because of the secret and vital nature of his work during the war years. In recent years Turing’s name has re-entered public awareness because of a high profile campaign to get him officially pardoned by the UK government. In 1952 the mathematician was arrested and found guilty of gross indecency for homosexual acts; homosexuality was illegal in the UK at the time. Several years later Turing committed suicide.

Benedict Cumberbatch is hot property at the moment; this Summer he will appear in Star Trek: Into Darkness, J.J Abrams sequel to his 2009 box-office hit movie which re-launched and re-booted the Star Trek film franchise. Cumberbatch will also feature in the next Hobbit movie (The Desolation of Smaug); he briefly appeared in  the first movie An Unexpected Journey.

Cumberbatch will also reprise his role of Sherlock Holmes in the third season of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ modern-day BBC One re-telling of the classic sleuth.